11 – A Scholar Dies for the One Who Knows Him (2)

On the long night of the winter solstice, cut away one waist of the night,
fold it layer by layer beneath the spring breeze quilt,
and on the night my dear one comes, I will slowly unfold it, bend by bend.

The night deepened. A candle flame wavered precariously.

Here stood someone poised at the boundary between girlhood and womanhood.

Hair like a stretch of the night sky, eyes like starlight.

Ho Yeyang (虎豫讓).

She lifted her brush from the rice paper and let out a small sigh.

“A marriage proposal…”

Ho Yeyang was seriously considering the proposal that had come from the Jo family.

The financial situation of Hojeongmun was extremely dire.

Several escort missions had ended in major incidents, and they had lost escort guards and porters.

After paying breach penalties for the cargo and compensation to the wounded and dead, they could no longer avoid running deficits year after year.

In a muddled world, it is difficult to keep one’s sanity alone.

She had only wanted to treat people as people, and principles as principles… yet the family’s fortunes continued to decline.

And then came the proposal offered by the Jo family.

Along with an enormous dowry.

Among the poor, marriages of transaction were common, but among the wealthy it was no different.

A political marriage.

Only the name was different.

“Perhaps it can’t be helped.”

Ho Yeyang sighed once more.

For the revival and restoration of the family, she steeled herself to offer up her own life.

Just then—

Clatter—

Her door flew open urgently.

Ho Yeonam, her father, entered with a flustered expression.

Beside him stood her mother, Sajiwon.

“Hee.”

“Father?”

Startled, Ho Yeyang set down her brush.

This was the first time her parents had entered her room without warning.

And at such a late hour.

‘But this works out well. I should tell them my decision.’

Ho Yeyang forced herself to remain calm.

Then, in a trembling voice, she spoke.

“Father, about the marriage proposal with the Jo family that you dismissed last time—”

But she could not finish.

Ho Yeonam spoke first.

“Have you heard? The Jo family has been wiped out.”

“…What?”

Notices were posted all over Goraehyeon and Naesonghyeon.

The contents were simple.

The Path of Righteousness colluded with the Black Path to gain illicit profits.

On behalf of those harmed by this, punishment has been carried out.

The Jo family had secretly commissioned the Black Path gang, reaping countless unjust gains.

Those who had believed the Black Path gang alone to be the culprits were enraged by the Jo family’s duplicity.

But they could not take revenge on the Jo family.

Because overnight, the Jo family had been completely burned to the ground.

In the center of the charred estate lay the corpses of Jo Yangja and Guyangpo.

Account books proving their long-standing collusion flew over the walls of the magistrate’s office.

The Black Path gang, the Jo family, all those trained in martial arts were dead.

The only survivors were hired servants who knew no martial arts.

Whenever two or more people gathered in the county, they talked about last night’s bloody incident.

“What in the world happened?”

“They say the Black Path gang and the Jo family angered some reclusive master.”

“They say he stormed in alone and killed them all.”

“They really had gone too far lately. To think they’d even mess with Hojeongmun.”

“Exactly. Do you know what kind of sect Hojeongmun is? Even if the world rots, that place is still clean. Really, they picked the wrong target.”

“But still, who could have done this? Guyangpo of the Black Path gang aside, Jo Yangja of the Jo family wasn’t someone to trifle with.”

“The Martial Alliance must’ve sent an expert to carry out judgment.”

“Idiot. Would the Martial Alliance be this brutal? It was probably the Pseudo-Path Alliance cutting off the Black Path gang as a loose end!”

The already noisy marketplace grew even louder.

Attention shifted to the being that had annihilated both the Black Path gang and the Jo family.

“They say a maid who survived the Jo family heard it. Before killing Jo Yangja, the swordsman called his name three times.”

“What, is he some kind of grim reaper? Why call his name?”

“But they say when his name was called three times, Jo Yangja got so scared he started crying.”

“That’s terrifying… Isn’t that how they say you’re taken to the underworld?”

Gossipers loved to exaggerate.

In the rumors, the master who called Jo Yangja’s name three times and sent him to the underworld in that brief span had become an absolute expert.

Three Calls to the Yellow Springs.

That was the alias given to the mysterious master.

A single horse walked along a mountain path.

Holding the reins, Ho Yeyang was lost in thought.

‘The annihilation of the Black Path gang and the Jo family…’

Her heart was complicated.

Finding joy in another’s misfortune brings guilt.

When it becomes one group against another, that guilt fades.

Ho Yeyang swallowed the sigh she had been about to release.

‘Yes. Let’s think of it positively.’

When the Black Path gang burned down, Hojeongmun’s debts vanished as well.

Now, even if they wanted to repay them, there was no one left to repay.

And the Jo family, which had used the Black Path gang to attack Hojil Escort Agency, was gone.

Hojeongmun would soon escape its financial crisis.

‘Still… who was it? That master.’

Ho Yeyang pondered.

In the martial world, similar stories are sometimes heard.

A powerful group, arrogant in its might, picks a fight with a lone individual—only to be wiped out without even a blade of grass left behind.

Such tales abound in stories, but rarely happen in reality.

…Yet it had truly happened.

“Three Calls to the Yellow Springs.”

Rumors always grow.

But if a single individual truly destroyed both the Black Path gang and the Jo family in two days, could he even be human? Or was he a ghost?

Rustle—

Still mounted, Ho Yeyang took out a letter.

It was from Escort Leader Ju Yehwa, delivered by messenger pigeon several weeks earlier.

The letter was quite long.

It detailed what had happened during the escort mission and future plans.

But what caught Ho Yeyang’s eye was the ending.

—Thus, we safely protected the cargo from bandit attacks and plan to resume the escort as scheduled.
Thanks to the help of a certain swordsman, many escorts were saved.
I gave that swordsman my gold plaque and sent him to Hojeongmun, so I ask that you treat him well.

Ju Yehwa had written that they were attacked by bandits during the escort, defeated them with the help of a swordsman, and successfully resumed the mission.

‘But no guest bearing Ju Yehwa’s gold plaque ever came.’

After receiving the letter, Ho Yeonam had asked after every guest who visited Hojeongmun, but found no such person.

Suddenly, Ho Yeyang thought—

‘Could the master known as Three Calls to the Yellow Springs be the same swordsman Ju Yehwa mentioned?’

Her expression dimmed slightly.

‘So he didn’t come to our martial hall.’

She felt both afraid and curious.

What kind of being was he, to only bring benefit to Hojeongmun like this?

It might be coincidence—but it felt too strange to dismiss as mere chance.

Then—

“…Ah!”

Ho Yeyang suddenly lifted her head.

Lost in thought while reading, she hadn’t paid attention to where the horse was going.

Worried she might have wandered somewhere odd, she hurriedly looked around.

At that moment—

“…Ah.”

A different exclamation escaped her lips.

The horse was walking along the main road near Yugye Lake (裕渓湖).

Willow leaves by the shore swayed softly.

Golden ripples shimmered on the water, and ducks dove beneath the surface.

“…”

Ho Yeyang turned her head.

In front of the horse, holding the reins and walking silently, was a boy.

Chui’s back filled Ho Yeyang’s large, clear eyes.

She tapped Chui on the shoulder and said,

“How did you know I like lakes and bring me here? I didn’t even tell you.”

“You did.”

“Huh?”

Ho Yeyang widened her eyes.

She thought for a moment, wondering if she had ever told Chui she liked lakes.

Meanwhile, Chui was recalling the past.

‘…On days when she felt bad or had too much on her mind, she always sat by a lakeside.’

The Ho Yeyang he had known in his previous life loved lakes.

On days she was given unreasonable missions by her superiors, or lost many comrades, she would stand by a lake and watch the willows.

She didn’t mind the fishy smell of the water, and liked the reeds growing in the mud and the migratory birds flying overhead.

Then Ho Yeyang spoke.

“But you’re really good with horses, aren’t you?”

“…”

When Chui didn’t answer, she continued, intrigued.

“This horse actually has a bad temper. The other stable boys avoid it. But it listens to you so well.”

She looked down at the horse she was riding.

It had been obediently minding Chui since earlier.

Soon, Chui led the horse closer to the lakeside.

In the sunny spot, Ho Yeyang stretched.

‘How should I put it… today feels really comfortable.’

She thought.

Usually, when others rode horses, they avoided the sun.

Most women didn’t want direct sunlight on their skin.

But Ho Yeyang had always liked basking in the sun.

And Chui, as if he knew this, guided the horse only along sunlit paths.

Then—

Whirr—

A flying insect brushed past Ho Yeyang’s nose.

“Ugh, bugs. Everything about the lakeside is nice except this.”

There were always many insects near the water.

Even though the weather had turned chilly.

Ho Yeyang liked viewing the lake, but the insects were the one annoyance.

Then—

Sizzle—

Chui took something from his clothes.

It was dried mugwort.

When he lit it, the insects scattered.

Ho Yeyang’s eyes widened.

“You even carry something like that?”

“…”

Once again, Chui didn’t answer.

But for some reason, Ho Yeyang wasn’t annoyed.

She asked him,

“You seem like a newcomer, but you’re very perceptive. Are you always this good at your work?”

Only then did Chui answer.

“A scholar dies for the one who knows him.”

He turned to Ho Yeyang and continued.

“I treat as family those who treat me as family.”

At his words, Ho Yeyang fell silent, eyes widening slightly.

Then she spoke.

“It feels like there’s a story there, so I won’t pry too much, but…”

Chui’s face was reflected in her large, clear eyes.

“While you’re at Hojeongmun, we’re your family.”

Hearing that, Chui felt as if he had returned to the past.

‘Do you know why I spared you?’

‘I don’t.’

‘Because you were a porter for Hojil Escort Agency.’

‘…?’

‘I am the last surviving descendant of the annihilated Hojeongmun.’

‘…!’

‘You said you once worked as a porter for Hojil Escort Agency. That its master and his wife were good people.’

‘…’

‘I think that was when I started thinking of you as family.’

He recalled the conversation he’d had with Ho Yeyang as she lay dying in the pouring rain.

The final appearance and voice of a sibling still vivid in his eyes.

And that made the sibling before him now hurt his heart all the more.

The Ho Yeyang of the past, horribly disfigured from face to chest by burns.

The present Ho Yeyang, with beauty just beginning to bloom.

The past Ho Yeyang, who could only rasp out metallic sounds after swallowing charcoal.

The present Ho Yeyang, with a voice like rolling jade beads.

“…”

Chui closed his mouth.

Rage and vengeance, sorrow and longing.

It is impossible to sustain such emotions forever.

Being human, rage fades, vengeance dulls, sorrow and longing are forgotten.

Even Ho Yeyang, once an iron-blooded avenger, must have had moments when her heart faltered and her resolve weakened.

At such times, what did she think as she looked at her situation and appearance?

After discarding gender and appearance to become a revenant of revenge; soaking herself in latrine filth; hiding among heaps of maggot-infested corpses; fleeing relentless pursuers to distant frontier battlefields; mixing with dirty, uneducated lowlifes in shared barracks… what was in her heart?

Chui opened his mouth to say something.

Ho Yeyang leaned in to listen.

…but.

A shout cut between them.

“Miss!”

From behind, Wu Dongwon came running in a panic.

“The escort guards have returned!”

At those words, Ho Yeyang’s eyes went wide.

Escort Leader Ju Yehwa and the guards of Hojil Escort Agency had returned safely.

A journey of one hundred and eight days that would resolve Hojeongmun’s financial crisis at once.

Ho Yeyang quickly grabbed the reins.

Turning to Chui, she said,

“Sorry, I have to go first! There’ll be a big feast tonight, so save your appetite! You’ll get to eat lots of good food!”

After apologizing, she spurred the horse forward.

Watching Ho Yeyang race toward the Hojeongmun estate, Chui also turned away.

From beyond the walls, the sound of a grand welcome for the returning escorts echoed even here.

Just then—

“Hey.”

Wu Dongwon grabbed the back of Chui’s neck.

Lowering his voice, he said,

“Who do you think you are, following the miss on your own? Don’t you know that’s something the seniors do?”

Wu Dongwon shoved Chui in the back threateningly.

“This won’t do. I’ll see you at the feast later. Don’t expect even leftover soup.”

 

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